Re: "Killing Iraq 1990-20_ _ "

Two simple questions to try to put some prominent arguments re. Iraq into
perspective:

1. During Saddam Hussein's lifetime, which country has
waged more cold-blooded wars
of mass destruction and mass murdered and terrorized more civilians:
Iraq under Saddam
Hussein, or the U.S. under successive Republi-Crat presidents
of the U.S. whose foreign
policies remain the same regardless of which "political" party's hat
they wear?
2. Recalling the recent FEMA "civilian population control exercise"
in central California,
and government responses to civilian dissent in Seattle, Philadelphia
and Los Angeles,
what kind of response would you reasonably expect from the U.S.
State and Federal
Governments, their police and military agencies, if the citizens of
any state, major region in
the country, or prominent ethnic group (example, Mexican or Native
Americans) rose up
and demanded independence or autonomy, or actively allied themselves
with a nation with
which the U.S. was at war?

Foreboding note: Both current candidates for U.S. president are
drumming up votes
across the country by promising with ever increasing forcefulness
to "get
tougher" and take "a more aggressive position" (i.e. more missiles,
bombs, terror and
deaths) against Iraq.than the Clinton/Gore "bombers & genocide
by sanctions team" have
been doing since they came into power. Particularly disturbing
is that these candidates
are especially targeting this kind of rhetoric - to enthusiastic
applause and support -- at
appearances before Jewish groups and American military "Veteran" organizations.

Re: Mark's support for an "International Police Force":
Who do you recomment control it? NATO?
The World's #1 Warrior Nation?
The UN Security Council?
The UN Secy. General who has gone to bed with International Corporations?

nels
--------------

Mark Al-Sinjakli wrote:

Dear Larry

I think most on the list would agree that there needs
to be some sort of international police force to
prevent expansionist activity, and that there was a
humanitarian case as well as an economic one for the
UN, led by the US, opposing and rebutting the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait.

Which leads us to three related questions:

1. Why was the Iraqi regime effectively given the
green light for the invasion by a high-ranking US
official just before the invasion?

2. Why was there no earlier condemnation or
intervention when the Iraqi regime committed other
atrocities, for example the use of chemical weapons
against its own people in Halabja? Indeed as was
recently stated on the CASI discussion list members of
the UK foreign office were told to give the 'correct
positive response' on Saddam Hussein's regime when
asked, as Iraq was an ally of the west at that time.

3. Putting to one side whether the US has acted in a
morally consistent way up until the invasion, can we
honestly say that the seige currently being laid on
Iraq, resulting in the deaths of 500,000 children and
rising, is a proportional and necessary response to
this 10 year old invasion?

Asking for a yes/no response is an unnacceptable
simplification because the US and UK actively
supported Saddam Hussein for years in spite of being
aware of numerous atrocities: therefore it is
insulting to see an over-simplified portrayal of them
as the good guys and others as the bad; global
politics is never so clear-cut, except in films.

All the best

Mark

--- Lar4mccain@aol.com wrote: > Friends
>
> Hi. Hope that all is well with everyone.
Let
> me pose this question as a
> yes and no question. With the Iraqi threat to
> Kuwait, do you think that the
> United States should protect Kuwait (regardless of
> whether oil is in interest
> or not)? For I was in Kuwait and yes, I know that I
> was there for oil. I
> accept that..yet I also saw the faces of Kuwaiti
> kids waving to me and saying
> thank you for saving them.
>
> For them it wasnt about oil and at that moment,
> it wasnt for me either.
>
> In Gods Peace
> Larry Provost
> US Army Veteran
> Operation Desert Thunder
> --
>
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